The official six-handed final table of this year’s WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship was set last night, and it will be Russian player Aleksandr Shevelev who will lead the pack of six into today’s final day of action.

The player emerged the chip leader for a second consecutive day, although he had his ups and downs throughout Tuesday action at the host casino, Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida.

Ness Reilly took the lead at some point on Day 4 of the $3,500 buy-in tournament and gained quite some pace to increase her advantage. Reilly came fresh from an eight-place finish in the WPTDeppStacks Hollywood Main Event, which took place last week at the same host venue and as part of the larger Lucky Hearts Poker Open festival.

Winning a massive pot, Shevelev managed to narrow the gap that his female fellow player had created, and eventually took the lead to never let go of it throughout the rest of the day. The Russian player bagged and tagged 6.96 million in chips last night, good for 116 big blinds.

Shevelev currently has a little over $22,500 in live tournament earnings. The player has cashed in four live tournaments so far, all of which have taken place at Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida. In other words, a victory in the Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship could become the young Russian’s debut among poker’s heavyweights.

The player made two in-the-money finishes in this year’s Lucky Hearts Poker Open festival. Being among the final six, the player has locked a six-figure payout from the Championship tournament. Each of the six finalists is guaranteed a minimum cash of $104,784.

The Final Pack of Six

Aside from Shevelev, the official final table also includes former WPT Main Tour Main Event champion Andy Frankenberger, who will enter the final day of play as the short stack with 2.17 million, Alan Krockey (2.81 million), Brett Bader (3.16 million), Darryll Fish (5.92 million), and Ness Reilly (6.295 million).

The six players will return to the host casino at noon Florida time to play down to a champion. And the winner will collect a nice payout of $511,604, which includes an entry fee into the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions. The WPT announced on Tuesday that the event will take place over May 24-26 at Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, with the final table being slated to be played at the newly opened eSports Arena Las Vegas at Luxor Hotel and Casino.

As mentioned above, Andy Frankenberger is the sole surviving WPT Champions Club member in the Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship. The player won his title back in 2010, when he topped the field of the Legends of Poker $5,000 Championship Event. Apart from his performance in the WPT, the player has also won two WSOP gold bracelets over the course of his career.